Kevin Spacey

Actor

Born: 26 July 1959

Birthplace: South Orange, New Jersey

Best known as: Oscar-winning star of American Beauty

Spacey's Oscar-winning performance as a disaffected suburban husband in American Beauty cemented his reputation as one of Hollywood's most flexible actors. (The film also won the best picture award.) It was Spacey's second Academy Award; his first came for playing wily con artist 'Verbal' Kint in the gangster mystery The Usual Suspects (1995, with Benicio Del Toro). Handsome but not movie-star hunky, Spacey is known for his versatility and his serious theatrical skills: he won a 1991 Tony for Neil Simon's Lost In Yonkers and in 2003 was introduced as the new artistic director of London's venerable Old Vic Theater. His other film roles include: Hollywood-happy detective Jack Vincennes in 1997's L.A. Confidential (with Kim Basinger); the nasty serial killer John Doe in Seven (1995, with Brad Pitt); a confounding mental patient in K-Pax (2001, with Jeff Bridges; a death row inmate (with a conscience) in The Life of David Gale (2003); as Lex Luthor in Superman Returns (2006, starring Brandon Routh); and as Jack Abramoff in Casino Jack (2010).

Extra credit: Spacey made his directorial debut with the offbeat 1996 crime drama Albino Alligator... Spacey attended Chatsworth High School with actors Val Kilmer and Mare Winningham... His co-star in American Beauty was Annette Bening... Spacey is the founder of TriggerStreet.com, an online script and film review cooperative for aspiring filmmakers.